PM Narendra Modi to inaugurate 3 petroleum projects in Bihar on Sunday

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate an LPG pipeline project and bottling plants in Bihar on Sunday as the government pushes its development agenda in the poll-bound state.

The projects include the Durgapur-Banka section of the Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur pipeline project and two LPG bottling plants, an official statement said.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will also be present on the occasion.

The 193-km long Durgapur-Banka pipeline section, built by state-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC), is a part of the Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur Pipeline Augmentation Project, for which the foundation stone was laid by the Prime Minister on February 17, 2019.

Durgapur-Banka section is the extension of the existing 679-km long Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur LPG pipeline to the new LPG bottling plant at Banka in Bihar.

The pipeline of 14-inch diameter passes through West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar.

While LPG is presently injected into the pipeline at IOC's Paradip and Haldia refineries, the completion of the whole project would enable the facility to be also available from the Paradip import terminal and Barauni refinery.

IOC's LPG bottling Plant at Banka will help meet cooking gas demand of Bihar.

The bottling plant has been built at an investment of around Rs 131.75 crore to serve the districts of Bhagalpur, Banka, Jamui, Araria, Kishanganj and Katihar in Bihar, along with the districts of Godda, Deoghar, Dumka, Sahibganj, and Pakur in Jharkhand, the statement said.

With the LPG storage capacity of 1,800 tonnes and bottling capacity of 40,000 cylinders per day, this plant would generate direct and indirect employment opportunities in Bihar.

Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd's (HPCL) 1,20,000 tonnes per annum LPG bottling plant at Harsidhi in East Champaran district has been built at a cost of Rs 136.4 crore.

This plant has been constructed on 29 acres of land and its foundation stone was laid by the Prime Minister on April 10, 2018.

The bottling plant will cater to the LPG requirement of East Champaran, West Champaran, Muzaffarpur, Siwan, Gopalganj and Sitamarhi districts in Bihar, it added.